Dabo Swinney: 'Some of those guys got exposed. Some of those 'sacks' we've had in practice aren't sacks any more'

The 'live' segments being incorporated into Clemson's football practices this spring are designed primarily to help sort out the competition among quarterback contenders Cole Stoudt, Chad Kelly and Deshaun Watson.

So long as the Tigers can avoid injuries, the benefits don't end there, however, according to Tiger coach Dabo Swinney.

"All three quarterbacks have been able to show their athleticism in their ability to escape and break tackles and make plays on the run," Swinney said. "Usually in practice it's hard to get a true evaluation of that because the defense knows they can't hit 'em.

"It's been great for our defense, too, because some of those guys got exposed. Some of those 'sacks' we've had in practice aren't sacks any more because these (quarterbacks) break tackles and make 'em miss.

"It's been really good for both sides."

The Tigers will be back in Death Valley for an afternoon practice today, and then will hold another full-scale scrimmage on Monday.

Overall, Swinney continues to like what he's seeing.

"We've gotten in some good special teams work," he said. "I've been very pleased with T.J. Green, and B.J. Goodson is a guy that's jumped out at me.

"I'm seeing a guy like Isaiah Battle really taking ownership and trying to be a leader. That's very encouraging. I saw Ryan Guillermo step up."

Notable in its absence is the day-to-day inconsistency common to intrasquad practices.

"Sometimes when you scrimmage, it can be a little lopsided, one way or the other," Swinney said. "But it's just been back and forth - very competitive every day. The offense had the better day from a short-yardage standpoint. We've got a lot of good film to watch and evaluate."

Swinney says the players are being held to a high, collective standard in everything they do.

"Everything counts," he said. "You take pride in doing your job. That's one of the things we do in our accountability runs after practice. There are consequences. Everybody suffers if one guy isn't doing what he's supposed to do. If a guy's late to class, they all pay a price for that one guy.

"The same thing carries over to football. If one guy doesn't do his job and a guy's wide open, or if a guy busts an assignment or plays with poor technique, everybody suffers.

"That was something I was eager to see, and I was very, very encouraged."